Making the Grade: UNI men's basketball Dec. 23-30

The final game of the non-conference season went, for the most part, like the No. 23 Northern Iowa men hoped. They pulled away to win using their methodical offense and consistent defense and enter Missouri Valley Conference play feeling as confident about themselves as a team could.

They're getting firmer ground in both top 25 polls, and are starting to catch the eye of national media, who rightly believe the Panthers are going to challenge No. 16 Wichita State for the MVC regular season crown.

But as Coach Ben Jacobson said Sunday after the win, the real season starts now, and we'll all find out if the Panthers are for real or not.

SCHEDULE/RESULTS

UNI vs South Dakota State; W, 74-63

OFFENSE

Grade:

B+

Why:

It's pretty clear this offense is never going to be flashy or fast — even though they have shown an ability to run when they want to. But the strength of the offense is to get into their offense and work until they get a really good look — usually 15 or more seconds into the shot clock. The Panthers showed that again on Sunday, working the ball through Seth Tuttle nearly every possession when he was in.

UNI shared the ball well, most specifically via Tuttle, who had assists on a little more than 1/3 of the Panthers' made baskets. As a team, they had 14 assists on 26 of 45 shooting from the field. Granted, nine of those came from one player, but the distribution has been much more even for most of the season, and sharing the ball like that has become a trend.

Against SDSU, there wasn't as much of the high ball screen followed by ball movement and rotation, but rather get the ball inside, rotate around the perimeter and let the UNI big men — again, mostly Tuttle — either make a move or find the open shooter. The Panthers had a solid first half knocking those shots down at 12 of 24, but an even better second half, shooting 14 of 21 (66.7 percent). They may not take a ton of shots or move at a fast pace — still 347th of 351 in Adjusted Tempo according to KenPom — but are 25th in the nation in Adjusted Offensive Efficiency. If they can figure out how to fix the offensive rebounding, of which there were only three against SDSU, the offense can make a run at Wichita State's for best in the league.

DEFENSE

Grade:

B+

Why:

Let's face it: there will be nights during the conference season where the defense relents and teams score in bunches. It happened once already at Virginia Commonwealth, a team that has a very fast pace. But there won't be many, if they continue to allow teams 60 or less points per game as they currently do (58.1, 29th best in the nation).

UNI had three different players to spy on Sunday against SDSU, and did as good of a job as they could've hoped against all three. Deondre Parks came in the leading scorer at 13.6 per game, and had 15 points — but it took 14 shots and two free throws to get there. George Marshall came in averaging 12.3 per, and had 16 points — but it took him 13 shots and three free throws. Cody Larson came in at 13.5 per, and UNI frustrated him into seven points and foul trouble.

Larson, Jacobson said, is to SDSU what Tuttle is to UNI, so the focus on defense seemed to be to let the Jackrabbits dribble around the perimeter. When the ball went inside to Larson, the Panthers doubled him immediately, forcing him either into a bad shot, tough pass or a turnover. If it got back out to the perimeter, UNI took away passing lanes with great effectiveness — hedging the screens at the top of the key as they have all season — and made the Jackrabbits score via a tough shot or off the dribble. SDSU only had six team assists on 23 made baskets, as Parks and Marshall took the bulk of the shots (27 of the team's 51 combined) in the form of long twos or 3-pointers off the dribble and spot-up shot. UNI will take that kind of shot every day, and their work on off-ball defense caused it.

PLAYERS (in last game)

Nate Buss, forward

(1 GP, 0 GS) — 14 points, 55.6 FG (5 of 9), 50.0 3FG (2 of 4), 100.0 FT (2 of 2), 2.0 reb, 2.0 ast.

Had himself a breakout game Sunday, with those 14 points and solid shooting clip. But he also did things in every other area of the floor that filled the stat sheet like he hasn't all season — and in just 20 minutes of work. He's one of four bench players who are all contributing in a big way.

Wes Washpun, guard

(1 GP, 0 GS) — 12 points, 83.3 FG (5 of 6), 0.0 3FG (0 of 1), 40.0 FT (2 of 5), 2.0 reb, 2.0 ast.

Speaking of contributing in a big way. Washpun continues to be one of the two best players on the team, and had another efficient and effective games while running the offense in the critical moments of the game. Maybe most importantly, he didn't have a turnover, while getting a steal and those two assists.

Seth Tuttle, forward

(1 GP, 1 GS) — 11 points, 40.0 FG (2 of 5), 50.0 3FG (1 of 2), 100.0 FT (6 of 6), 2.0 reb, 9.0 ast.

Covered this on Sunday after the game, but it bears repeating: Tuttle sees the floor like a point guard. His ability to find the open man reached its zenith Sunday, and as Tuttle said, that had as much to do with his teammates finishing as it did him finding them. But when the Panthers get in situations where Tuttle is outmatched one-on-one, he'll draw back from this well, and it could pay off in a big way.

Paul Jesperson, guard

(1 GP, 0 GS) — 10 points, 50.0 FG (4 of 8), 40.0 3FG (2 of 5), 0.0 FT (0 of 0), 2.0 reb, 0.0 ast.

In his last five games, Jesperson is averaging exactly 10 points per game, grabbing 3.2 rebounds, and is shooting 44.8 percent. He's as consistent as anyone on the team, even if some others have outshone him individually. He's also developing a proclivity for big-moment shots, as well, as evidenced on Sunday with a few of his timely 3-pointers.

Deon Mitchell, guard

(1 GP, 1 GS) — 8 points, 100.0 FG (3 of 3), 0.0 3FG (0 of 0), 50.0 FT (2 of 4), 1.0 reb, 2.0 ast.

Mitchell had a solid game, one of his best all season. He was perfect from the floor, and more specifically finished in traffic at the rim a few times — something he's had a serious issue with to this point. He had three steals as well, but matched that number with a team-high three turnovers.

Wyatt Lohaus, guard

(1 GP, 0 GS) — 7 points, 75.0 FG (3 of 4), 100.0 3FG (1 of 1), 0.0 FT (0 of 0), 4.0 reb, 0.0 ast.

It won't be often Lohaus is the high rebounder on the team in a given game, but his effort against SDSU deserved that distinction. He was active on both ends, filled passing lanes a few times for steals and was particularly smart in his shot selection. His best moment was a steal followed by a fast break pullup midrange jumper.

Matt Bohannon, guard

(1 GP, 1 GS) — 5 points, 50.0 FG (2 of 4), 33.3 3FG (1 of 3), 0.0 FT (0 of 0), 3.0 reb, 2.0 ast.

A toe on the 3-point line kept him from six points and 50 percent from 3-point range, but that's nothing to nitpick about. Bohannon played a smart game, save for one moment: a pullup 3-pointer in transition that wasn't close and drew the ire of his coach. Otherwise, a typical Bohannon performance.

Jeremy Morgan, guard

(1 GP, 1 GS) — 3 points, 50.0 FG (1 of 2), 0.0 3FG (0 of 0), 50.0 FT (1 of 2), 1.0 reb, 0.0 ast.

A quiet night for Morgan, but with the way his teammates played, he didn't need to be flashy. He once again came up big in areas not listed on the stat sheet — his help defense was especially good and was one of the many to play well off the ball and prevent SDSU from running the offense they wanted.

Marvin Singleton, forward

(1 GP, 1 GS) — 2 points, 33.3 FG (1 of 3), 0.0 3FG (0 of 1), 0.0 FT (0 of 0), 3.0 reb, 1.0 ast.

Singleton hasn't been the guy we got used to seeing at the beginning of the season since around the Cancun trip. He's had four or fewer points (1 point in two different games) in every game since the return from Mexico, and has had five or fewer rebounds in four straight games. Foul trouble contributed Sunday, but he's certainly in a funk regardless.

UPCOMING WEEK

UNI at Evansville, 7 p.m. Thursday at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind.

UNI vs Loyola, 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls

Past weeks: Nov. 15-22; Nov. 23-30; Dec. 1-8; Dec. 8-15; Dec. 16-23

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com